Lily James Defends Super Small ‘Cinderella’ Waist

Disney came under fire recently for images of Lily James sporting an impossibly tiny waist in promo photos for their upcoming Cinderella remake. Many believe the images were photoshopped past the point of reality and enforce impossible beauty standards. But actress Lily James, who stars as Cinderella in the movie, is defending the images, claiming her waist -- however tiny -- was not digitally altered.

She told the LA Times, "I naturally have a really small waist. The skirt's big and the corset pulls me in, and that's the point. That’s the shape [costume designer] Sandy Powell created." While Lily's waist may actually be that tiny, she did admit to having to implement a strict diet in order to fit into her corsets. She told E! News, "When [the corset] was on we would be on continuous days so we wouldn't stop for lunch or a lovely tea like this—you'd be sort of eating on the move. In that case, I couldn't untie the corset. So if you ate food it didn't really digest properly and I'd be burping all afternoon in [Richard Madden]'s face, and it was just really sort of unpleasant. I'd have soup so that I could still eat but it wouldn't get stuck."

The director of the film, Kenneth Branagh, also denies any digital altering, saying in an interview with the Huffington Post Live, "It's not a mystery — if you put someone in a corset, you'll see also that there's a wide [part]. Not that Lily James isn't slim. But, in that wide bow of the dress underneath, basically you squeeze things in, things come out at the bottom. It all gets hidden under there. The natural body physics of it aren't insane."

Lily also stated the importance of healthy eating, and believes young women should focus on health rather than weight. She said (quote via E! News), "For girls growing up sometimes I think they get the wrong idea for what women should look like...I think it's so important to be healthy and confident and natural."